the hurts which are received in battle. They are to study the diseases of tropical countries, and the epidemics which prevail in different places, as well as army surgery. Thus, when the soldier lands on a foreign shore, care is taken that he is put upon a good soil, sheltered from hurtful winds, sun, or damp, and preserved from stenches and other mischief. If he falls ill of any disease of the climate, the doctors know how to treat it, and have the proper medicines with them. If he gets wounded, he knows that the surgeons have not everything to learn, because gunshot wounds are rare at home, but that they have had a special training in treating hurts of this kind. Moreover, there are easy vehicles for carrying the wounded to the hospital, and all means on the spot for treating wounds, and rallying the strength of the wounded. All this is such a change from the old methods that the difference in the mortality of our armies is already very remarkable.
I need not spend space or time in telling the faults of the dress of our soldiers, up to a very recent date. A dress which compresses the throat, confines the chest and arms, and loads the head with a great weight, and galls the temples without shading the eyes, and pinches the feet, and makes the wearer cold in winter and hot in summer, and wears out as soon as possible, and gathers dust, and shrinks in damp; a dress like this has every imaginable fault, and scarcely a single recommendation; yet this has hitherto been the dress of the British soldier. He has not complained of it so much as might be expected. In fact, he has been rather vain of his tight coat, stiff stock, towering shako, and the knapsack which pulled at the leather belts across his chest. But if his English admirers could see him on the march or at work, they would find him less fond of his costume. They would see him unbuttoning, and throwing open or throwing off every article that had most distinguished him. Shako and stock have gone; the jacket hangs loose; the trousers are tucked up; and, moreover, the scarlet cloth has slit in half-a-dozen places, and the boots have burst at the sides, or are too stiff to get on and off.
We now know that the head must be well sheltered in all weathers and climates, and particularly in hot countries, without being loaded; and that the throat and chest must be free from pressure, and the feet well fitted with well-seasoned boots. Hence the reforms now in course of introduction. We are trying different caps and head-coverings, in India and everywhere. The chief of the department of army clothing has been studying the French methods of making everything that the soldier uses or wears, from the tent over his head to the shoes on his feet. Though the boots and shoes are made entirely by machinery, from the cutting out of the leather to the finishing stitches, every French soldier is fitted, and no French soldier has corns. The reason is that there are twenty-four sizes and shapes, out of which men of all dimensions can suit themselves. We are to adopt this method: and when we have done it, and become careful about our leather, we shall hear little more of our soldiers being foot-sore.
When we have ascertained what sort of head-gear, with its white covering, suits tropical service best, we shall not lose so many soldiers by sunstroke as we do now. Meantime, the new tunic in the place of the tight coat, the growing discountenance of the stock and the shako; the improvement in all materials; the good sewing by the machine; the increased use of flannel, and the careful superintendence of the washing of clothing and of the person, are all guarantees of a better state of health for the soldier than was imagined half a century ago.
The absurdity of feeding our soldiery on boiled beef, every day of their lives, as long as they were in the army, will scarcely be believed hereafter. We know better now. We know the mischief of giving men the same dinner every day; and we have obtained the advice of the best chemists as to the best diet for healthy men. By means of more knowledge and a better use of inventions, we can now give our soldiers a variety of meats, soups, puddings, and vegetables, such as they would not have enjoyed at home; and fresh bread, and good tea or coffee,—and all for the same money that the old system cost, or less. There can be roasting, stewing, and baking, just as well as the eternal boiling of old times. Thus may the modern soldier enjoy his meals, and keep up his strength on them, instead of being tempted to spend his money on dainties and drink.
With this enlargement of the dietary, another change, no less beneficial, has come in. Worse than overcrowded rooms at night, and disgusting food, and troublesome dress, has been the curse of the soldier,—the dullness of his life. People in ordinary life who pine for want of something to do and to care about, are subject to ailments which are called “the maladies of ennui.” These are real diseases, though arising from moral causes. The brain wears upon itself, the nerves become disordered, and the various bodily functions are disturbed, just as in the case of a restless prisoner who is said to “eat his heart out” in captivity.
Soldiers in barracks, whether at home or abroad, have had some experience of this kind of misery. After parade, and after duly hurting their lungs by breathing the dust of pipeclay in dressing their belts, and then cleaning their arms, there was nothing before them but a dinner which they loathed, and parade again; and at night either a wet and cold guard, or the hot and pestilential barrack-room, crowded with hard-breathing sleepers. Drink, desertion, suicide, were the consequences of such a life; and it was on account of these manifest evils that the stir on behalf of regimental schools and reading-rooms began.
We are doing better now, and shall improve further. The most intelligent of the learners and readers were still helpless, outside their narrow range of exercises. When they went out to war, no one of them could make himself a shelter, or mend his clothes or shoes, or bake bread, or cook meat and vegetables. In adopting the new cooking apparatus, which has attracted so much delighted attention, the authorities have provided an excellent employment and strong interest for the soldiers. They are learning to cook as the soldiers of other countries do. Once having discovered the benefit of being able to shift for